The Summer House Eatery

For a foodie whose day job involves being a movie buff, a restaurant situated in Mani Ratnam’s old office is nothing short of a mecca. Not to mention the fact that one of the owners of The Summer House Eatery is Anirudh himself. But once you indulge in what they serve here, the aforementioned reasons take the back seat and it’s sure to be a place you won’t stop raving about. I was here recently and given below is my take on the latest eatery in town.

Location & Parking

This eatery is quite a tough one to find if you aren’t familiar with the locality and on my first trip here, despite a friend sharing the location online, I wasn’t able to find it easily. But after my first visit, it was easy peasy. Fortunately, they also have signboards located right from the main road to direct folks to their property. The place doesn’t sport an expansive parking area but thankfully they’ve got valet parking service.

Ambience

Picture courtesy: The Summer House Eatery FB page

Completely in contrast to the bustling streets of Alwarpet, The Summer House Eatery wins my heart for its serene atmosphere, minimalistic decors, comfortable furniture, perfect lightings, well-maintained greeneries and a gorgeous backyard which also doubles as additional seating space. The interiors sport a huge painting which is apparently an ode to the liquid gold – coffee. Back at the outdoors, the neatly trimmed bushes and trees also showcase small plants and shrubs which are up for sale. By the time I reached here, it was late in the evening and the backyard proved to be a wonderful place to stretch, relax and enjoy my dinner peacefully. And oh, they’re pet-friendly too – a trend that’s growing by the day for the best reasons.

Food

And this where things get better! What I love about The Summer House Eatery’s menu is the fact that they’ve kept the number of dishes minimal, making it easier to maintain the consistency of the dishes. Apart from a lovely food menu, they also have a good collection of hot and cold beverages.

Apart from teas and milkshakes, they also serve bottled fresh juices, in the name of Jus Pure, which intrigued me. I tried the pineapple version which was thick, pulpy and of course, refreshing.

A fried chicken might sound like a simple dish considering how they’re one of the ‘must have’ items in any menu. But the effort that goes behind nailing it to perfection is so hard that I rarely like a fried chicken in most of the places. That prompted me to try this places’

And here we go with the mains. As a sucker for pesto, I nodded like a kid who wants to go on the biggest rollercoaster ride when I was offered to try their Pesto Fish. Thanks to Mathangi, who doubles as a chef and a co-owner, I got to try the dish with both fish as well as prawns. Not sure if it’s because of the basa fillet or the exceptional quality and size of the prawns, I easily leaned towards the latter seafood. And oh, did I mention about the salad the dish accompanied with? It was fantabulous.

As a hardcore carnivore, there are very few veg products that make my soul push the ‘wow factor’ button and mushrooms, especially shiitake mushrooms easily are in the top 5 list. This Spaghetti in Thai Chilli Jam which had a balanced mix of sweet and spiciness just hit another level thanks to the amazing flavour of the fungi. A must try here!

Mathangi was once again sweet enough to let me try their Queso with chorizo slices and as a fanatic of chorizo, I just couldn’t resist the offer. She also stated that their chorizos are made a tad spicier than usual and it translated well with the cheese in the Queso. It’s easily my favourite dish of the day and those sausage slices were so delicious that my mouth waters as I struggle to complete this sentence.

The Queso was on the house while the rest cost me Rs. 1461. Will I come back? With the quality of ingredients that go into these dishes and the serene atmosphere that’s so hard to find inside the city, hell yeah, I’ll be back soon. Overall, it was a splendid evening at the Summer House Eatery and I’m very sure that it isn’t the last time they’ve seen me!